Squash

 Last week I baked a butternut squash.  I really struggle cutting a hard squash in half before baking it so this one I baked whole and that was a lot easier. I added nutmeg and cinnamon and butter and milk and a couple eggs and ate it in a casserole. Besides an acorn squash in the freezer I still have 8 squash left. Three of the squash I grew myself in my own garden.  I might get another squash tomorrow in my final box of vegetables from my CSA farmer.  So I had to do something to reduce the number of squash.  Squash has never been my favorite vegetable.  I do like a spicy squash soup and I have more than enough to make a lot of soup.  I took one of the home grown squash today and I made it into a cake. I found a recipe on line that called for one cup of grated squash. The cake turned out pretty tasty. I put a little extra ginger, cinnamon and allspice in it so it taste like a spicy spice cake. In any case, only 7 more squashes to go.

Walk for Hope

Today I went on an organized walk to support the Alexandria House. I think this is the third or fourth time I have done this walk at Bunker Hills Park in Coon Rapids.  Three of us walked together this time.  I got a free flu shot from the  Walgreens table.  I had about five layers on because I wanted to get warm and when I had to get down to the camisole layer for the nurse with the needle I had goose bumps on top of other goose bumps.   I  might look a little chubby in the photo because I got some other shirts for a couple of other coworkers who couldn't make it so instead of carrying them I put them on because I was so cold.  It was 38 degrees this morning!  We were freezing out there in the wind.  Some moments were especially sad. I groaned out loud when the name of a woman I worked with was read.  I had to cry.  I just had to. Then the music started playing.  Dogs were barking.  Babies were crying.  We soon cheered up and marched on the trails together talking and laughing and having a good old time.  I wish our society was different so we didn't have to have things like the Walk for Hope or the Alexandria House.

Pure Genius Observed

After work I went to the gym to swim a few laps and saw this. Pure genius I think.  If you can't ride two bikes at the same time, just strap the smaller one to the back of the bigger one.  I never would have thought of this myself.

Before I went to the gym I stopped by Coon Creek to monitor the water.  I can see my shadow in the water. The clarity was 78 which is good for this creek. The water temperature was 48. The flow was back to  normal after heavy rains earlier in the week. I see they are building new buildings in the marsh north of Highway 10 and Hanson Boulevard. I doubt the creek will improve because of the changes they are making in that swamp. 

I Don't Suck

On a whim I decided to take a community education class on how to play the harmonica blues. I bought a harmonica (10 hole in the key of G) in August but never tried blowing it until I got to the class.  I walk into the high school music room. My instructor is there with 9 other students. Three of us are female and the rest are males. We sit in chairs while we are told how to hold the darn thing in our left hand. Our instructor tells us to breathe through the instrument.  He tells us not to blow or suck but just to breathe. I do it and the sounds come out pretty nice.  After a while though you start to feel deprived of oxygen, as if swimming or suffering from bronchitis. When that happens we are to just drop our lower jaw and breathe in over the top of the harmonica.  He shows us how to hold it tilted downward so the saliva doesn't clog the reeds.  He asks us to practice playing the second hole and having just one note come out.  I try.  I get a chord. I can't get it. Other people are playing one note but not me.  He decided to go around the room and have each person try in by themselves and give individual instruction.  One guy gets it right away. Another man struggles for a long time. When he comes to me I am playing a chord. He suggests I pull the harmonica a little farther away from my mouth.  It works! I say, "I got it!" into the harmonica and that sounds really funny.  He shows us how to move back and forth on the harmonica by pushing it with our left or right hand.  He asks us to practice playing each note separately and then playing, "Mary Had A Little Lamb."  After class I go home and soon I can play each note separately. I can play "Mary Had A Little Lamb."  I look up other songs to play and soon I am playing "Turkey in the Straw" and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot."  I don't suck at the harmonica!  Fancy that!  I think I sound pretty good for a beginner.

Write To The River

The river calls me.

Come! Refresh yourself.

Observe my movements.

Allow time to pass by.

Send your troubles downstream

To calmer waters.

Jaguar Print Pants

A woman I knew died this morning. I have known her for thirty years. She had a unique communication style and she always seemed a little confused. She would repeat her stories and ask the same questions over again. Other people were highly annoyed by her but since she reminded me of my Aunt Geneva, I cut her slack. I would listen to her stories with patience.  I would answer the same question.  Sometimes I would throw in a compliment or a joke to change the pattern of her thinking and that was helpful.  She was a snappy dresser. Not everyone can wear jaguar print pants like she could. One day she needed a ride. I went to her house to pick her up.  By then she was using a cane.  I knocked on her door. She allowed me to come in and wait while she looked for her socks, shoes and purse. The house was cluttered.  A sign reading Uff Da! was hung on the wall above the couch. Norwegian style art covered the walls. Lace doilies or antimacassars were on the back of every chair.  When she was ready I helped her down the steps and into the car. Several inches of snow had fallen that morning.  Her street was plowed but the driveway was not.  I had to barrel through the snow bank to get in.  I wasn't sure I could get out again.  The street she lived on was busy.  Cars went by at 35 miles per hour.  I know I had to take a run at that snow bank to avoid getting stuck but that meant I couldn't really see if any cars were coming.  As I backed up I hesitated.  Then I said, "Hang on now, we're going out."  She hung on and I barreled the car backwards through the snow bank and cranked the wheel to the left so we could go east.  I said, "We made it!"  She said, "Yee Haw!"  We both laughed.  I drove her to her destination.  I dropped her off at the door and let her walk inside while I parked the car.  I came back and she was waiting for me with a smile on her face.  She was ever so grateful for the ride.  I will miss this woman and I am sure her family will miss her too. 

An Exciting Dawn of the Day

This morning I was walking around the house getting ready for work.  At about 5:30 a.m. I heard a barred owl hooting pretty close to my house, possibly just across the side street. The sun wasn't up yet but I went to the window anyway to look. Next I heard it hoot even closer. I am pretty sure it was in my yard on the east side of the lot. My eye brows went up. Next I heard it hoot from a spot on the west side of my yard. How exciting. The owl hooted again and at the same time another barred owl started making what I call the monkey sounds.  I had two barred owls in my yard this morning.  I turned on the flood light on the deck but did not see any owls. What was going on out there?  Was this an excited form of bonding going on?  Was it a couple or a parent/child out there? Why were they so excited by the dawn of this particular day?